Pebbles is a new series of collectors' albums, inspired by the
brilliant Nuggets album, dedicated to bringing you the best of
obscure '60s punk and esoteric rock. Volume One of the Pebbles
series is concerned with classic punk recordings from some of
the many local music scenes of the 1960's. Included are 16 classics
that collectors have read about, and despaired of finding, for
years. Borrowed from the collections of some of America*s foremost
authorities on '60s rock, these records are in many cases one-of-a-kind,
and so obscure that few even remember who some of these groups
were or where they originated from. However, again turning to
our panel of experts, we have made every effort to find out as
much as we could about the tracks included on this album.

Side One

1. "Action Woman" (The Litter) The Litter were one of
the best groups to emerge from the active Minneapolis scene. Along
with the Gestures, Castaways, T.C. Atlantic, The Trashmen, and
hundreds more, the Litter were part of a scene that produced literally
hundreds of records, only a handful of which ever got out of the
Twin Cities. The Litter put out two albums on a local label before
being signed to a national label, ABC. Their ABC-Probe album can
still be found, but it doesn't begin to compare to the earlier
stuff. "Action Woman" was a local hit, and is included
here from their amazing first album, Distortions (1966).

2. "Who Do You Love" (The Preachers) This Bo Diddley
classic received an amazingly raw treatment from The Preachers,
evidently a Los Angeles band ca. 1965-66. Other records by this
group have been found, although it's a common enough name that
there is some doubt whether all are, in fact, by the same band
who made this record.

3. "Dance Franny Dance" (The Floyd Dakil Combo) One
of the most legendary Texas records of the '60s, this one was
recorded "Live at the Pit, Dallas" and was somewhat
of a regional hit, even receiving airplay in such unlikely places
as San Francisco, where it made the KYA Top 60 for one week in
1966. The solid, chugging beat and clean, simple energy of this
record have endeared it to all who were lucky enough to find it
on the original Jet-Star label, or the (actually scarcer) nationally-released
Guyden version - including the Flamin'Groovies, who at one time
intended to record the song. Other Dakil records (including a
fairly common one on Earth) fail to measure up.

4. "I'm In Pittsburgh, And It's Raining" (The Outcasts)
Another little-known Texas band, most likely from San Antonio,
recorded this blistering punk-rocker, which has been compared
to the Pretty Things at their best, and also to Eddie & The
Hot Rods, by certain people in Holland who put out an extremely
rare bootleg pressing of it under the name The Kicks in 1977,
aimed at the New Wave market! The original was on Askel 102.

5. "Going All The Way" (The Squires) This one is a real
mystery. Only two collectors are known to have copies, and although
the record appeared on a national label, nobody has ever been
able to identify the group or their origin. The strangest thing
is that this is the only known record by this group, although
by their sound (both sides are well-produced, extremely good original
songs. The "B" side, an amazing Byrds soundalike, will
be on Volume Two of Pebbles) they should have recorded much more
extensively. In any case, this record holds its own in intensity,
energy, and composition with any of the best punk records of the
'60s, and deserves far better than the total obscurity from which
only this album is likely to rescue it.

6. "Going Away Baby" (The Grains Of Sand) The Grains
Of Sand were a fairly well-known Los Angeles band around 1965-66
who recorded 3 or 4 excellent 45s, mostly in the folk-rock style.
This is their punkiest outing, although the song was co-written
and produced by Michael Lloyd (The B-side was published by "Fowley
Whipped Dog Music"!). It appeared on the Genesis label.

7. "You Treat Me Bad" (The Ju-Jus, featuring Ray Hummel
III) Another fabulous, obscure record, this one appeared on the
Fenton label out of Grand Rapids, Michigan around 1966. This was
an extremely prolific label, issuing more than 200 local records,
though not all of them were punk-rock.

8. "1-2-5" (The Haunted) The Haunted were one of Montreal's
premier punk bands, and this song was a sizable hit in Canada,
and received a bit of airplay in America when released on Amy.
In Canada, they were on the Trans-World label, which released
albums by other punk bands, including The Rabble. The Haunted
album is one of the hardest to come by relics of the '60s, but
it includes nothing more powerful than this single. It did include
versions of "A Message To Pretty" and "Out Of Time,"
but not the group*s other singles "I Can Only Give You Everything"
and "Come On Home."

Side Two

1. "Like A Rolling Stone" (The Soup Greens) It's been
said about the punk bands of the '60s that they could transform
any song into "Louie Louie," and this record is certainly
one of the more amusing proofs of that observation. The group,
from somewhere in New York State, is not known to have made any
other records.

2. "Crackin' Up" (The Wig) Yet another fine example
of Texas punk, this record has the distinction of having been
written by Rusty Weir, currently well known for several boring
solo albums on major labels. But even the most boring hippies
(Loggins & Messina, Delbert McClinton, etc) have been known
to have valid punk roots, and such is the case here. Few '60s
punk records are wilder than this 1966 single, released on the
local Black Knight label in eastern Texas.

3. "Psychotic Reaction" (Positively 13 O'clock) Still
in eastern Texas, we come upon this wild cover version of the
Count Five hit, by an unknown band who never actually existed.
According to Jimmy Rabbitt (L.A. disc jockey and sometime C&W
recording artist), who produced this record with Robin Hood Brians
(of Mouse & the Traps fame) at Brian's studio in Tyler, Texas,
it was a studio record mad by members of Mouse & the Traps
and other local bands. It was released in 1966 on the HBR label
out of Los Angeles.

4. "The Trip" (Kim Fowley) Everyone knows who Kim Fowley
is, but few have any ideas how many weird, demented records he
was responsible for in some capacity between 1959 and 1970, let
alone all that he's done since then. There could easily be a 3-album
set of Fowley's best obscure singles, but for the present, none
could be more representative than this song, released at the height
of teenage freakout mania. Interestingly, Kim's version (on the
Corby label, whose story is so confusing we won*t even get into
it) was the inspiration for several covers, notably one by Godfrey,
an LA disc jockey who got (not surprisingly) a lot of airplay
with it in Southern California. It became a sort of cruisin' anthem
in East LA, where variations were recorded by other bands like
Thee Midnighters. Godfrey himself released it in 2 or 3 versions,
with varying B-sides. They were all great, and fairly bizarre,
but none better than Fowley's original.

5. "Spazz" (The Elastik Band) This song was destined
for Volume Two of Nuggets, but seeing as how that album may never
see the light of vinyl, we felt it worthy of inclusion here. Surely
one of the most tasteless records ever made, it was (amazingly
enough) released on a major label known for tasteful rhythm &
blues, but failed to be a hit (can't imagine why...). The group,
not to be confused with several others of the same or similar
monicker, is believed to have been based in New York.

6. "Rich With Nothin" (The Split Ends) One of the best
records to come out of Tampa, Florida's active local scene in
the '60s, this is also one of the most impressive efforts to duplicate
the style of Paul Revere & the Raiders. It stands out as a
truly strong and delightfully arrogant suburban punk. Released
on the minor CFP label, it's virtually impossible to find, even
in Florida.

7. "Potato Chip" (The Shadows Of Knight) This song,
together with the jocular spoken intro, was issued only on a 5-inch
cardboard record, possibly tied-in to a potato chip promotion.
The song itself is quite good, but was never released to the public.

8. "Beaver Patrol" (The Wilde Knights) Probably a Los
Angeles band, the Wilde Knights were but one of countless groups
who did off-color records within the punk idiom. References to
"beavers", long hot-dogs, etc. characterized these records,
which were usually sold by the groups themselves at gigs as "novelties."
This is by far the best record of this type we've ever uncovered,
and we put it at the end of this album because nothing could possible
follow it...

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this album to
achieve the highest possible quality, given that many if not all
of the records included suffer from deficiencies in recording
and pressing to begin with, and many had to be mastered from second-hand
copies. In mastering, the tracks were run through an ADC-500 professional
graphic equalizer and a noise-reduction unit.

We wish to thank all the fans and collectors who have been of
assistance in compiling this series. Special thanks must go to
Greg Shaw, Ken Barnes, Alan Betrock, Mike Saunders, and the pages
of Bomp, Rock Marketplace, and the many other fine fanzines that
have kept the spirit of punk rock alive...

Note: the small skip that occurs in "Action Woman" was
present on the original record and could not be eliminated. Your
copy of Pebbles is not defective...